Gräfenhainichen

Another excellent day of sightseeing here in Germany and also our first concert of the tour. To keep from boring you with the details of the entire day, I'll just focus on our trip to the town of Gräfenhainichen.

Leaving Wittenberg at about 2:30 p.m., we crossed over the river Elbe and saw for the first time the effects of the flooding that we've been hearing so much about.

The river, which is usually about 2 metres high, was 8 metres today. Last week it reached 9 metres and the bridge was closed to traffic. If we'd been here a week earlier, this trip would have looked very different. We wouldn't have been able to go to Gräfenhainichen today and all the walking tours we've been doing would have been very wet. We have been so fortunate to have had fantastic weather the entire time we've been here.

 

Gräfenhainichen is one of the most charming German cities you can imagine. It has a population of about 7500 people, which unfortunately has been declining significantly as a result of the economic crisis. As in many smaller centres throughout the country, unemployment is causing young people to leave for cities like Berlin in search of work.

Gräfenhainichen is the birthplace of Paul Gerhardt, a famous German hymn writer who is said to be the poet of the Lutheran Church. One of the pieces that we're singing (Auf, auf mein Herz) was written by Gerhardt.

We were met by Wilma Breßner in traditional German dress who took us on a walking tour of the town, including the Paul Gerhardt museum. The painting behind her is that of Gerhardt.

A signpost from the 1600s in the town square, indicating the length of time to travel by horse and carriage to various towns and cities; e.g., 28 Stunden (hours) to Berlin.

A star in the pavement in front of a house indicates the owner has permission to brew beer.

Stadtkirche Sankt Marien (Town Church of St. Mary) dating back to 1687, where we had our concert.

The church pulpit

The altar

Singing at the Stadtkirche. I hope to get a better picture of us at some of our next concerts.

I have to say, my feet were absolutely killing me, as we were standing on a stone floor (not to mention all the cobblestone streets we've been walking on!)

We found out after the concert that a free will offering was taken at the service and about 500 euros was collected and will be given to one of the churches in the region that has been damaged by the flooding. It was nice to know we'd been a part of that.

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